Professional & Organizational Development

SLP Level 1

The Strategic Leadership Program (SLP) provides a comprehensive education in the essential elements of leadership, in general and specific to the University. Over the past 25 years more than 5,000 UW supervisors have completed the SLP Level 1 workshop.

If you are a supervisor with at least one direct report who’s a permanent UW employee, you’re expected to attend SLP. Because SLP is centrally funded, there’s no cost to you or your department.

Objectives and curriculum

SLP was developed and is facilitated by Professional & Organizational Development (POD). The curriculum is designed to teach you how to be successful as a supervisor at the University and achieve exceptional performance from your staff.

This unique program combines self-awareness with organizational awareness, policy knowledge with interpersonal skills, and tactics with strategy. Content is organized around four integral aspects of management:

  • Self (competency assessment, communication styles, emotional intelligence, and diversity)
  • People (performance management, situational supervision, coaching, motivation, and employee development)
  • Teams (group dynamics, conflict resolution, decision making, and human resources basics)
  • Organizations (change management, organizational culture, and managing up)

Upcoming workshops and registration

Whether or not you’ve already received an invitation to attend SLP, you’re welcome to register for an upcoming workshop. In addition, as a new or newly promoted supervisor, you’re expected to attend SLP Supervisor Orientation as soon as possible after starting your supervisory role.

Upcoming offerings:

  • Wednesdays, July 9 & 16, 9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. (Zoom). Registration closed. 
  • Wednesdays, September 10 & 17, 9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. (Zoom). Register now.

Please note that spaces in this program fill up quickly. If you determine you cannot attend the workshop for which you’ve registered, email s-leader@uw.edu promptly so that someone else may have your space.

To be eligible for Level 1 of the Strategic Leadership Program, you should have at least one FTE or three student employees who report to you. If you have any questions regarding your eligibility to participate please contact s-leader@uw.edu.

Workshop completion and credit

Attendance is required for both live Zoom sessions, and all self-paced online modules must also be completed. After completing SLP, you will receive a certificate from POD.

Funded training for supervisors

The UW and UWHR provide centralized funding to support the success and development of leaders at the UW. POD recommends:

  • Taking SLP Supervisor Orientation as soon as possible after starting in a supervisory role.
  • Taking the SLP Level 1 workshop within your first year in a supervisory role (please note that workshops fill quickly!).
  • Taking UW Management Fundamentals classes while waiting to take SLP Level 1 or to help you better understand UW policies and master key management competencies (see UW Management Fundamentals in POD’s online catalog for current offerings).

SLP program history

SLP received central funding in 1999, and the first full workshops started in 2000. The goals of the original program included providing equal access to training, improving the quality of work life, and reducing University liabilities. The program received broad support from groups that included the Board of Deans, labor unions, the Professional Staff Organization, the Civil Rights Investigation Office, and the University Human Resources Committee (UHRC).

POD developed all aspects of SLP, from budget to curriculum, with input from focus groups, surveys of UW supervisors, consultations with key departments, and analyses of best practices at peer institutions and in the public sector. POD continues to revise and update the program in response to emerging management trends, the changing University environment, and other factors.

In 2016, POD began offering SLP Supervisor Orientation to provide newly hired or promoted supervisors with just-in-time training about partnering with UW Human Resources and their responsibilities as an agent of the University before attending the more intensive SLP Level 1 workshop.